The President’s Address to the Nation’s School Children

Posted by Andy

I really like the idea of reaching out, but I looked at the Education Department’s guidelines for teachers and I think they’re too general, too vague. If I were the Department of Education, I would provide specific questions, to give young people a better idea of the problems facing our country and help them weigh the policy options. In a politically neutral way, of course. For example:

1. President Obama wants to give everybody a lot of money, and make really rich people who already have too much money pay their fair share. Some people, the Republicans, don’t think that’s a good idea. Others, the Democrats, think it is a good idea, because otherwise your mommy and daddy might not be able to buy food and you could starve to death. You could also be kicked out of your house and have to sleep on the street. Who do you think is right, the Republicans or President Obama and the Democrats?

2. President Obama wants everybody to be able to go to the doctor if they get sick. The Republicans don’t care whether you’re able to go to the doctor or not, even if you’re about to die. What do you think?

3. It’s getting hotter all the time and pretty soon a lot of ice will melt and the oceans will fill up and spill over and flood a lot of houses, like the one you live in. There will also be more hurricanes and tornadoes and your house could be blown away, with you in it. President Obama wants to do something to keep this from happening. The Republicans don’t want to. Who do you think is right?

4. Republicans like to torture people. President Obama says everybody has feelings and it’s not good to beat people up and keep pouring water onto their face until they feel like they’re drowning. To understand this, you could imagine yourself being beaten up and having water poured into your mouth and nose until you can’t breathe and you feel like you’re drowning. Would you agree with the Republicans that this is OK, or would you be more likely to agree with President Obama and the Democrats that it’s not OK, and that the people who do it should be put in jail?

5. President Obama thinks everybody should be happy, and he wants to help them be happy in any way he can. The Republicans say that if people aren’t happy it’s their own fault and even if it’s not their own fault they don’t care if you’re happy or not. Do you agree with President Obama or the Republicans?

That’s just a sample off the top of my head. Might be a little advanced for pre-K and kindergarten, but kids are smarter than you might think. For the older children, teachers might ask not only for classroom discussion but written answers and tell the children to put the names of their parents and their home addresses on the completed papers before sending them on to Washington, with informational copies to the FBI and CIA. They could be encouraged to say what their parents talk about at home.